


Where the Tide Breaks

by Natural_Log



Series: Widofjord From My Head [8]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Merman!Fjord, Merpeople, Slow Build, Slow To Update, oh jeez where to start
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:28:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27257197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Natural_Log/pseuds/Natural_Log
Summary: AU: The Mighty Nein came together, most of the universe is the same, except for one missing person. Fjord is a merrow of the sea, and only crosses paths with the Nein after they're a proficient adventuring party.------Caleb knows, objectively, that the sea is inhabited by a whole host of creatures. Many of them sentient. He doesn't immediately make the connection that they would therefore have their own political conflicts and territory disputes. Not until a strong merfolk shows up at Yussa's tower asking for help.Despite having his own goals and issues to deal with, Caleb gets pulled into the sea-bound conflict, away from his work with Yussa. It helps that he's been assigned a friendly, if curious, merrow Fjord.
Relationships: Fjord/Caleb Widogast
Series: Widofjord From My Head [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1198351
Comments: 6
Kudos: 38





	Where the Tide Breaks

Candles flickered light across Caleb’s face as they sputtered, and he blinked up from his work. It was later than he realized. The light through his window had faded into early dusk and his candles were nearly gone. His stomach gurgled, as if merely noticing that time had passed was enough for it to suddenly realize it had been empty all day. 

Rubbing his mouth, Caleb pushed himself away from his desk and leaned back, rolling his neck to loosen it. Not all days were like this, he allowed. Not every day was he able to work dawn to dusk, components sprawled across his desk along with the flecks of ink from his furious scribbling. 

But some days were. Some days he unearthed something that was a breakthrough, or something he could modify to his uses, and he had to jump on and pin down those moments of ingenuity before they slipped. Or before he was called away to assist. 

As if summoned there was a heavy knock on the door below. Caleb twisted in his chair to frown at the doorway. There were no appointments today, he knew. Time might have escaped him but it was only allowed because he had their schedule memorized. No appointments today.

Yet someone was knocking on the tower door.

Thinking longingly of a hot meal made Caleb’s stomach grumble again. He grabbed his tea from the morning and downed it, grimacing at the temperature before striding towards the main stairwell. 

The knocking came again, heavy and urgent, and Caleb scowled. It was a big tower, he thought at the visitor. Give a man a moment to answer. 

In the entryway Caleb ran his hands over his clothing, brushing the errant cat hair from his sleeve and straightening his shoulders before he reached for the door.

It opened enough for him to peer out, locks bracing it from opening further. At the steps stood a tall woman, sturdily built, wearing simple sailors clothing. A shirt. Breeches. A bag at her hip. No shoes, Caleb noted with a glance. Her long, dark hair was still damp, like her clothes, as if she had recently been plunged into the nearby ocean. Her arms were folded over her chest, displaying their heavily muscled nature, and her steely brown eyes narrowed at Caleb. 

“Yes?” He asked, trying to keep his irritation out of his voice. She tilted her head at him and when the light fell over her face he saw faint wrinkles along the corners of her eyes and mouth, belying her age. 

“I am looking for Yussa,” her voice grated out and she cleared her throat. “Is he still here?”

Caleb pursed his lips and tried to recall if he had seen her before. Certainly not. Sailors didn’t commonly come to Yussa’s door. “He is busy tonight,” Caleb finally said. “If you would like to make an appointment I can-”

She braced a hand on the door next to Caleb like she expected him to close it on her. Caleb raised an eyebrow, unthreatened. “Tell him it is Sadaf. I would speak with him. Now.”

“Very well.” And Caleb closed the door in her face like her strength was nothing. Because it was, in the face of the enchantments on the door. Turning to the receiving room Caleb mentally flipped through his memory for any previous encounter with the strange name as he moved into the room. 

Shrugging- the name was unusual and new to him- he pressed a finger to the ear cuff he wore. “Master Yussa, there is a Sadaf here for you. She said it is urgent.”

A moment passed before Yussa’s voice trailed into his ear. “Let her in, put out refreshments. Please.”

Interesting. Caleb turned and waved a hand. The door opened to reveal the woman, Sadaf, still standing too close to the frame. Settling himself Caleb clasped his hands behind his back, and she stepped into the room. “Master Yussa will be here presently. You’re free to wait here.”

She said nothing. Caleb crooked a finger behind his back and the door closed again. She didn’t seem to mind. With a glance at Caleb she stepped past him and stared up at the spiraling staircase.

That gave Caleb a moment to size her up again. Usually when someone knocks on Yussa’s door they leave disappointed. A handful of times Caleb had to cast a few stray firebolts at a more aggressive door knocker. Rarely did Yussa walk away from his work to offer time to the masses.

Well, Caleb turned and set about assembling a refreshment tray. Not wholly rarely. That is, after all, how he ended up here. 

At 34 Caleb didn’t think he would be designated to menial tasks like conjuring refreshments for curious visitors to a wizard tower. But then this was temporary, and a favor, and really he didn’t  _ have _ to play the servant. Wensforth was still technically the keeper of the tower, doing these things. Arranging for the kitchen to be stocked, component jars full of components, dust dusted. 

It’s just that Caleb is unendingly  _ curious _ . And Yussa put up with it because having another wizard appear as his apprentice worked out for him, and he never demeaned or treated Caleb like a servant. And sometimes he was so secretive about who he was meeting with and what they did that Caleb wanted to polymorph himself into a fly to listen in. But he didn’t, and Yussa was doing him a favor, and usually Caleb got to meet the fascinating people who visited the tower. 

This person just happened to be extra fascinating, so Caleb studied her as she watched the stairs. She wavered on her feet in a way that Caleb recognized was a sign of someone long on the ocean. Still hadn’t found her ‘land-legs’ so to speak. Her skin was pale though. Far more pale than any sailor Caleb had met. Perhaps her work was below decks. Or she had a night shift?

She tilted her head again and her hair shifted so Caleb could see her neck more clearly. He hmmed internally at the discoloration. Vitiligo? He wondered. He had met a Tiefling with vitiligo once. Very fascinating. She had come knocking on Yussa’s door. She had left disappointed.

Caleb’s eyes traced down the woman’s arms again. The discoloration was too uniform to be vitiligo, he decided. Cups clinked together as he set them on the tray and arranged them. Perhaps not wholly human, as she seemed? Caleb idly turned one cup so the handle pointed out and considered the known sentient races that might offer similar skin coloration. 

Above them a door opened and closed. Caleb adjusted the fruit on his tray and moved to set it on the low table in the center of the room before stepping back, out of the eyeline of the stairs. Sometimes Yussa let him sit in on meetings, if he stayed quiet and out of the way. Unassuming.

“Yussa.” The woman greeted, head craned up to see him. The descending footsteps paused.

“Sadaf.” The footsteps resumed. “I am surprised. I expected it to be someone using your name for my time.”

“You come down from your tower still.”

Caleb watched Yussa reach the bottom of the stairs. He wasn’t sure if he actually expected some sort of warm greeting, gathering they knew each other, but he was still surprised when she grasped Yussa’s hand with both of her own and they stepped closer together.

“I am sorry,” she said, “I have nothing to barter for your time, or favor. Especially since it has been so long.”

Yussa led them to the couch and they sat. Though usually content to be ignored Caleb twitched. This seemed more intimate than he initially assumed. 

“Thirty years since you last visited.” Yussa said. “After ten I wondered if you had passed, but no other came to my tower. I wondered if perhaps your people were all…” he trailed off, seeming to realize Caleb was still in the room.

They both turned to him and Sadaf raised an eyebrow. “You are not one for taking apprentices.” 

Yussa considered Caleb. “He is no apprentice. We have been working together- a trading of favors.”

“He is still soft around the edges,” Sadaf commented with a scoff, and Caleb raised an eyebrow in turn. Soft was not something people usually described him as. Haunted. Brittle. Crumbling.

He held his own wrist tightly and avoided eye contact. 

“Perhaps,” Yussa gave Caleb a strange look. “But he has much promise. And he is exceptionally intelligent. Caleb,” he made a motion to the stairs. “Would you do me a favor?”

Caleb moved toward the stairs. “Of course. What did you need?”

“A box, in my study. Turquoise inlay. You’ll know it. On the right shelves.”

Nodding absently Caleb ascended the stairs. Yussa and Sadaf waited until he was at the correct floor before their soft voices started again. 

“I need your help, Yussa.”

Caleb hesitated before opening the door, but Yussa’s response was too quiet to catch, so he entered the study. Yussa had left his notes out and Caleb scanned over them for a moment. Intricate rune work, meticulously placed, and several expensive components were carefully positioned. It was beyond Caleb but he looked it over anyway. Curiosity. 

Turning to the shelf Caleb spotted the requested box quickly. The turquoise looked like water, and there was a pearl-like shell as a latch, but the truly impressive part of the thing was more subtle. A small fossilized sea creature was set into the lid, grey and dull and unassuming. But the box radiated power in-potentia.

With careful hands Caleb picked up the box. His skin buzzed for a second, some kind of alarm spell washing over him, but nothing else happened so he tucked it close to his body and left.

“-to hear of such dark news.” Yussa was saying. Caleb closed the door quietly and moved to the stairs. “Unfortunately I am not wholly surprised. War is threatened in Wildmount as well: The Empire and the Dynasty are all but begging eachother to strike first. And here on the coast I’m sure you have heard of the power plays escalating. It hasn’t been so long since the Chroma Conclave that I expected more conflict. Perhaps that was just the first in a series of-”

Sadaf turned to watch Caleb come down the last few steps and Yussa trailed off. “So you do still have it.”

Caleb offered the box to Yussa, who took it gently and set it on the table. “Thank you, Caleb.” Without waiting for Caleb to respond, or leave, he continued on. “In any case, I wish I could offer more immediate aid. I will look into this Uk’otoa. Is there anything else I can do to help?”

“If you could…” Sadaf trailed off and looked at the box. “I did not hope that you could come yourself, but if you still have the necklace then-”

Yussa raised a hand. “I can’t. I haven’t left the tower since, well, in decades. I have some delicate work. There are many who would take advantage of my absence. I can’t.”

With a twist in her face Sadaf looked away. “I understand.” 

Caleb tried to recall if he had ever heard of Uk’otoa. Perhaps once, back in the Empire? A book on ancient religions, smaller deities? 

“I should go, then. My own -” she made an alien croaking, clicking sound that snapped Caleb out of his thoughts. With a frown she shook her head. “What is it to air people- student? Squire? He waits for me.”

“You are not one for taking apprentices,” Yussa repeated back to her. She shrugged.

“There is a reason I did not come back.”

At this Yussa pressed his hands to his knees and leaned forward. “Do you mean to tell me that you-”

“No.” Sadaf tried a small, sad laugh. “No. But he came into my care nonetheless. And I would rather he not be captured.”

“Oh,” Caleb muttered to himself. Yussa and Sadaf turned to him. “Uk’otoa. One of three, right? Eyes, and the ocean, and what was it- Zehir?”

Yussa considered Caleb for a moment, thinking. “Zehir rings a bell. He was locked behind the divine gate though.”

“Uk’otoa was not.” Sadaf scowled. “His influence grows. His followers take advantage of any weak point. They are trying to take the edge of Hylis, to the south there is an outpost and it has gone dark.” She turned back to Yussa. “I do not have the warriors to fight them head on. Our hunters are not trained for this. The few trained fighters we do have cannot combat the concept of taking power for oneself. And the reports of risen creatures do not sit well with me.”

“I don’t like the sound of it either.” Yussa was still watching Caleb. “Nor do I like the sound of an evil ocean deity gaining power. Not when the coast is on the verge of civil war.”

Caleb shifted his feet. “It sounds like you need to hire some champions. I would offer myself, but my allies are-”

“It is not so simple.” Sadaf clenched a hand. “I am grateful for the thought but you and your allies are not suited for my home. And we don’t have any more of these,” she gestured to the box on the table, “nor would they solve the learning of the terrain.”

“Well.” Yussa opened the box. From where Caleb stood he could see a small pile of pearls, shells, and coral. The smell of the sea wafted over him. “This is not the only solution. Just one. There are other means, spells, that could alleviate some issues. And I can help craft more of these.”

He was holding up a pendant. Or rather, a series of pendants on a chain. It, like the box, radiated magic. 

“In fact, Caleb, I think you are on to the right idea.” Yussa set the necklace on the table and closed the box. “Would you consider handling this on my behalf? I will be in your debt.”

Caleb sighed. The others were likely deep in the Dynasty at the moment, surrounded by danger and subterfuge. He hadn’t heard from them in a few days, but he assumed they were busy dismantling the corruption there. And Caleb was here, not close to a breakthrough but making progress. 

He had to consider the fact that Yussa knew that. Yussa was not invested in the war, not like Caleb and the others were. But it was on his radar, and he had helped them, and he knew how important Caleb’s work was. To them, at least. He did not trade favors lightly. 

Sadaf. Caleb rubbed his chin. She was important to Yussa, that was clear. But she was also not from here- she mentioned terrain being an issue. The frozen wastes perhaps? A small island to the south? 

“I’m happy to help where I can,” Caleb finally said, “but I think I need more information. Do you want to recall the others from their current task for this?” Caleb gestured to the necklace.

“Yes.” Yussa didn’t hesitate, so Caleb sat down across from them. “I will send for them in a moment. But first, you are right. Some information will be important.”

Sadaf leaned forward and picked up the carafe of water. Instinctively Caleb moved to hand her a glass. Instead she lifted the jug to her mouth and, with a few large gulps, drained it. 

Absently, Caleb set the glass back down and looked between Yussa and Sadaf. “Ok.”

“I am a siren, or a merfolk, or dudach, or merrow. There are many air names” Lifting her hair Sadaf revealed an identical necklace to the one on the table around her neck. The two outer pendants were seemingly stuck to her skin, not far under her ears, and the third in the center of her throat. “This lets me walk in the air world. If you are to help us you will either need one or a spell that allows you to traverse the depths.”

Caleb clenched his eyes shut and blinked a few times. “Ok.” With a deep breath he looked back to Yussa. “Ok. Well. That does complicate things.”

“How long can you afford to stay?” Yussa turned to Sadaf. “With time we can perhaps find more resources, gather allies, create weapons to help your people.”

Sadaf shook her head. “Not long. My apprentice and I are of the few capable of fighting off attackers, assassins.” She grimaced. “But… you are right. I came for help. I will stay, if it means help will come.”

“Assassins?” Caleb repeated, but Yussa didn’t seem surprised. 

“Let’s send for your apprentice. You are right to be wary of his capture if he lingers in the shallows, and I would hate for anything to happen to him.”

Both Sadaf and Caleb stood. “Oh,” Caleb pointed at the door, then Sadaf. “I was, I mean, I assumed you would stay here.”

“You should stay, Sadaf.” Yussa stood as well, straightening his robes. “We can discuss a plan. Caleb would probably enjoy stretching his legs more than you.”

Caleb nearly chuckled. Sadaf was very clearly stronger and sturdier than him. But then, Caleb watched her sway slightly, she was apparently not accustomed to using two legs. Yussa might have the right of it.

“I’ll be quick,” Caleb nodded to Sadaf. “Where can I find him?”

\--

Despite living here for over a month Caleb still reveled in the feeling of walking down the beach. The water was breaking gently, the tide on its way out. He pulled his coat closed as the wind buffeted him again and ran his fingers over the necklace in his pocket. 

Sunsets in Nicodranas, Caleb had found, were almost otherworldly. The sky took on a new palette of vibrant hues and the water sparkled. The sun was nearly finished melting into the horizon, casting interesting shadows into the clouds, when Caleb rounded just out of sight of the city.

Here the water was shallow and more calm in a tidepool. Caleb drew himself up and stopped, realizing someone was sitting in the pool that was his destination.

A man, sitting waist deep in the water. At his angle, and with the sun casting everything in muted gold, Caleb couldn’t make out many features. He was about to pass by, find another spot to try and summon the apprentice, when the water rippled out of arm's reach of the man. Caleb sized him up again.

He wasn’t built as thick as Sadaf, more lithe than her sturdy form. His hair was shorn close on the sides and longer at the top, which fluttered in the breeze. He leaned back on his hands and looked up, seemingly admiring the view, and his new position let Caleb see down his front.

Muscles glinted in the lowering light, his hip bones defined enough he could tell that where someone else might have covered himself this man had no need. Scales covered the sides of his hips and down. The man had a belt slung low, a bracer, but nothing else on. 

This was certainly the siren Sadaf’s apprentice. Squire. Caleb squinted and held his hand up to shield his eyes. The other merrow. 

“Hm,” Caleb looked down to check his footing as he started out across the tidepools. “You must be the one I’m looking for,” he said, and looked up. “Sadaf sent me, she said-”

Without glancing back the merrow dove into the ocean, almost faster than Caleb could track. Caleb tsked and hurried to the edge of the pools. Falling to his knee he scanned the water.

“Foolish,” he scolded himself. “Should have opened with Sadaf’s name.” He pulled the necklace from his pocket. “Or asked for  _ his _ before I left. Bah.”

Thrusting his hand into the ocean made his jaw clench. This late into fall the water was a little too cool for comfort, especially on a breezy day like it was. But he dangled the necklace anyway, hoping the bit of light left would help him catch the merrow’s eye.

Long moments passed. Caleb tried not to study his own reflection in the pool, waving the necklace under the surface and attempting to maintain his balance with the other. Too slow he realized his reflection was broken by a shadow under the surface.

A green hand slid onto the rock beside him, and before Caleb could lean back the merrow shot out of the water and pressed a knife to Caleb’s throat. With a start. Caleb fell back onto the damp rocks, hand still locked onto the necklace.

The merrow seemed much larger up close. He pressed into Caleb’s space, pinning him with the knife at his throat and a hand braced next to his face. Caleb let himself go limp. “Hello.”

Water gushed out of the merrow's gills along his neck before they fell flat against his skin and he took a ragged breath. “What did you do to Sadaf?”

His voice was deep, melodic. Siren, Caleb reminded himself. “Offered to help. She is with Yussa, at the tower.” With his free hand Caleb pointed to the necklace. “This is for you. She is staying for a bit and it is safer there, as a human.”

With narrow eyes the merrow looked between Caleb’s face and the necklace. Seemingly satisfied, he pulled the dagger away and rolled off of Caleb. “She said we weren’t going to stay long.” He frowned and looked up the beach, toward the city. “I wasn’t… planning on going into the city.”

He spoke differently than Sadaf, Caleb noted. “Well it is going to take time for reinforcements to arrive. And you can’t stay out here that long. Not without someone finding you, and there’s no guarantee they won’t, well.” Caleb shrugged. Illicit things could be made with merfolk parts. Terrible things had been done to them, historically. Hence why they rarely contacted the surface. Sitting up, Caleb rubbed his throat. 

“You’re sure?”

Caleb huffed. “No, I came out here and got all wet and cold for shits and giggles.” The merrow gave him a flat look. “Yes. I’m sure. Sadaf is waiting for you with Yussa. This necklace will allow you to walk on land.” He held it out. “Here.”

The merrow plucked the necklace from Caleb’s hand and looked it over. Caleb pushed himself to his feet and wrung out his now wet coat. “If Sadaf said I should…” the merrow trailed off, rubbing his thumb over the central pendant.

“Is there a problem?” Caleb shifted and tried not to shiver.

“No,” the merrow pulled the necklace over his head and fastened it into place with a grimace. “I’ve just never done this before.”

The “oh” that Caleb tried to let out got lost as the merrow grunted in pain and fell back. He scrambled further out of the water, onto the rocks, and Caleb stepped back. He was, in fact, much longer than Caleb was imagining. Tail to tip he looked eight, maybe nine feet long. Now he was laid out prone in front of Caleb, so he took in the details.

His skin was green, with a similar color pattern to Sadafs: Lighter underbelly, darker back. The line where man became, well, fish, was a strange blend of skin and small, softer scales. He jerked and rolled to his side and Caleb watched muscle and bone shift under the heavier scales down his sides. The lighter green center shifted to amber at the second joint, which shifted with the outer scales into an almost gold coloring. His extensively long tail seemed to be melting, turning into water, the smaller fins along the sides dripping into nothing. Toes appeared, then ankles and calves, as if emerging from ice. 

Tilting his head Caleb watched with fascination until the merrow grunted again and slapped a hand against the rocks. Caleb blinked. It must be painful, he realized, watching the merrow’s tight face. It isn’t as simple as polymorph- it’s some kind of alter self. 

Except, Caleb tilted his head the other way, alter self does not offer more or less appendages. 

The last of the scales faded away and left the merrow panting and Caleb with a problem. 

“Oh,” he looked at his hands, then back at the naked man. “I didn’t bring clothes.”

“Great,” the merrow spat. “Wonderful.” He pushed himself up onto his knees, folding his legs under himself. 

“It’s not a long term fix, but I can make you look like you are clothed.” Caleb offered. “It will trick anyone who sees you, but if they touch you-”

The merrow rolled his head back and looked up at the now darkening sky. “Well, if nothing else, at least there’s that.” He tried to get to his feet and wavered, nearly toppling into the surf.

Instinctively Caleb reached out and grabbed his arm, steadying him. With a grunt the merrow instead tipped over onto him, grabbing his shoulders and leaning what felt like all of his weight onto Caleb, who was just a frail wizard really. They teetered on the edge of the tide pools for a moment, grabbing and tugging and trying to maintain some form of balance.

Finally the merrow took most of his weight back, finding his feet, and Caleb let himself take a breath. “That was close.”

“Thanks,” the merrow said, and sighed. “I’m… not used to this.”

“That’s alright,” Caleb slid the other man's arm around his shoulders so he could help him up the beach. “I’ll just do this thing here,” he cast Seeming, offering the merrow some modesty outwardly, “great, and now you look like a drunken sailor I’m helping home.”

The merrow seemed perplexed but impressed. He tried to touch the flowy white shirt but his hand just landed on his chest. “Wow,” he turned to look at Caleb. “You’re magical.”

His eyes were bright amber. There was a deep, old scar running down one side of his face. If Caleb didn’t know better he would guess this was a half-orc. He even had the mouth shape. But no tusks, Caleb admitted. Full lips. Clean shaven. A streak of grey and faint crow's feet, so not young. Not younger than Caleb, at least.

“Well,” Caleb licked his lips. “A wizard, actually.”

“Really?” His gold eyes lit and eyebrows rose. “Like Yussa?”

“Sort of.” Caleb looked back at his feet and began moving them towards the sand, and the city. “Yussa has had a lot more time learning than me, I think.”

“I suppose so, you don’t look very old.”

That made Caleb laugh, albeit somewhat bitterly. “I’ll take that as a compliment. Sometimes I think I look on death’s door.”

“I feel the same, some days.” The merrow considered Caleb and slowed. “Sorry for, well, threatening you.”

Caleb slowed as well. They had just come around the bend in the beach, and Nicodranas sprawled before them, but the merrow was studying Caleb and didn’t seem to notice. “Don’t worry about it,” Caleb finally replied and adjusted his grip. “I should have handled that differently, you were right to be wary.”

“It was probably stupid to be up in the pools.” The merrow sighed. “I just don’t get to see many sunsets above water.”

“Ah, well, they are magnificent.” Caleb turned to look back out over the city and the merrow followed suit with a soft inhale. Light glinted off the many windows facing the coast, pennants snapping in the evening breeze. The sky was shifting from a swath of warm tones to a cooler blue in the east. Magical lights dotted the upper markets and faint music trailed across the water to them.

“My name is Caleb, by the way.” He held out a hand.

The merrow looked at the hand, then back to Caleb’s face as he clasped forearms with him. “Well met, Caleb. My air name is Fjord.”


End file.
